Hot Mic at Kristi Noem Event: TSA Agents Say They Were 'Terrified' and Overworked

A hot mic before Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference on Monday at Tampa International Airport captured TSA agents candidly describing fear of a supervisor and frustration over heavy schedules.

The recording — shared to X by reporter Alexander Willis — includes one agent saying he was "scared" of a supervisor when he started in HR:

"I used to be terrified of [her] when I started in HR, I was so scared of her. She was just really busy; she did, like, discipline stuff in HR, so being an officer, she didn’t trust me to be around any of it because she didn’t know if I had a big mouth or not."

The agent did not identify the colleague he described. Another voice on the recording also complained about scheduling pressures:

"Now you can no longer go to the store. I wish I had Sunday–Monday or Friday–Saturday [off], because having both weekend days off is great, but it’s frustrating sometimes."

Onstage at the event, Noem presented symbolic $10,000 "bonus checks" to more than a dozen TSA employees in recognition of working without pay during October’s government shutdown. Those envelopes did not contain physical checks; Noem later clarified they held notices stating the $10,000 would be added to recipients’ next paychecks via direct deposit. The awards were limited to employees nominated by supervisors for "exemplary service." Similar symbolic presentations were made at a November event at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas.

The Transportation Security Administration, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, was among the agencies most affected by the October shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — which arose amid a dispute over spending priorities and extensions for some Affordable Care Act-related provisions. After receiving a partial paycheck in early October, TSA employees, classified as essential, continued working without pay until the shutdown ended on November 12 when a temporary spending bill passed with bipartisan support.

The TSA employs more than 50,000 transportation security officers out of roughly 65,000 total employees. The Department of Homeland Security had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.